Kota Damansara Community Forest Reserve

Just last weekend, BFF and I were taking a stroll in the Kota Damansara Community Forest  (KDCF) Reserve, a place we recently discovered from the many articles that popped up on Facebook. We love doing hikes and stuff but only once in a while have the luxury of time to meet up and take a stroll. A lot of these amazing hiking spots are quite a drive away and that meant that I had to rely on friends, not many are nature enthusiast, sadly!

Thankfully, KDCF is simply under 30 minutes away drive, we were actually surprise such a hiking spot can be found so close in the city! And it is so beautiful!

The lake, whether man made of natural, is the first thing that greeted us. While this lake may appear just like any other lakes in Malaysia, I find it enchanting. There are dead trunks sticking out in the water (mangrove-kinda species, maybe!) and it somewhat remind me of the photos I've seen of Aoi Ike, the Blue Lake of Hokkaido. Because it isn't blue, I call this the Malaysia's version of Green Lake LOL!

IDK why but just feel like posting this 'iconic' tree twice.

After tons of photos by the lake, we are finally ready to do some hike! The trails were wide enough for one to walk comfortably and there are more even trails for bikes if you love mountain (or in this case, bukit) biking. The trails were well taken care of, we came across a guy, not sure volunteer or part of this KDCF community member, clearing the pathways from fallen leaves. Apparently, there are even "Community Dogs" cared by the KDCF Society. Pretty cool!

Only after our walk along the shorter Salleh Trail did we discovered there were multiple longer trails leading around KDCF. We decided to venture Temuan Trail then the Sahabat Trail and back via Serenity Trail.

At times, I was creeped out by how quiet and eerie the trails can get. Though every now and then, you hear the sound of traffic and the distant azan which was comforting. Reminds me that civilization isn't far away hahahaha. That was another reason why I chose this spot _ my goal was to reached the peak which overlooks Kota Damansara. I think it is really cool how you can have a view the city from the peak. 

Unfortunately for us, that didn't happen. We found warnings and even "No Entry" tapes at one of the trail leading to the peak. I do think it is still possible to get up there since you can opt to take the Unity Peak trail but since we already took quite a detour from the start which meant having spent hours in KDCF, we were tired.

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💪😤 Berlagak even though my feet is hurting now LOL. Pretty sure we did close to 7km since we started tracking our steps after walking for an hour #ShinrinYoku

A post shared by Vivien Tan (@voguelyvivien) on Sep 2, 2018 at 6:40am PDT

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After the mini escapade, it dawned to me how I miss being with nature and I really, really, really wanna do this more often! This will be like the caption for my very first photo in this post hahahaha.

Of course, I've been to Shah Alam Botanical Garden and Cameron Highlands this year and Putrajaya last year but I really wish I can do this more often! I haven't been on any islands in the East Cost of Malaysia such as Redang, Tioman and Perhentian Islands! *sigh* Anyways, I came up with a list of parks, forest reserves where I want to hike and even islands I want to explore #goals

Double Tree by Hilton, Malacca

The day after Bon Odori, I woke up early and took the bus ride chartered by my company to Malacca. We were there for our company's team building and annual dinner. This year, we had the event in Double Tree by Hilton in Malacca, a change from our usual rendezvous in Lexis Hibiscus, Port Dickson. Our rooms are lovely, albeit without the personal swimming pool (or dipping pool as I call it).

This is the view from my room~

Aside from the activities that was held, the other main thing about this place is the food!!! I find the selection is wide here and everything taste so good! Most of our meals were held near the ballroom otherwise they're in the makan kitchen.

Our breakfast upon arrival~~

We spent most of the day occupied with activities hosted by the organizers. While I heard the hotel is not too far from the touristy attractions in Malacca, we didn't get much time for ourselves. After all it is my company's team building event. Later that evening was when the most anticipated event, the annual dinner.

After some speeches by our VIPs followed by very juicy musical performance later that evening, it was time for another feast.

My friend's plate. She was so hungry that she piled everything up lol.

Dessert, such guilty pleasures!

This is melon sago, my favorite!

Breakfast on the second and last day at Double Tree by Hilton. Again, there are quite a huge selection _ Chinese, Malay and Indian dishes, all of which are really good.

This is my breakfast which is just a lil' bit of everything since I was still feeling stuffed from the meal from the night before. Don't have photo but I also had omelette which the staff prepared right on the spot and it tasted just right.

What did I tell you about dessert?

Happy National Day Malaysia & My Borneo Travel Wishlist

In 2018, I find my curiosity for the mysterious island of Borneo in East of Malaysia) piqued. My trip to Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak in 2016, my BFF's obsessiveness to want to try butod or sago worms, plus the experience of living with a housemate coming from Sabah who kept telling us West Malaysians hommies that we are so ignorant to not differentiate between Sabah and Sarawak _which is so-o-o true and that they don't stay in treehouses _ okay, we finally get it.

Besides that, I also came across "Original Sabahan" song & festivals such as Pesta Nukenen a.k.a. Bario Food Festivals and so forth. These all made me want to visit Sabah and returned to Sarawak so badly.

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Here are a bunch of stuff in my travel wishlist which I wanna do in Sabah & Sarawak the next time I have a change to go there again (Soon, hopefully!):

#1 Hike up the majestic Mount Kinabalu

#2 Try Sabahan's food such as butod, pinasakan, hinava, tuhau, bambangan, busou, li nopod , sinalau bakas and ambuyat. (Read about them here)

#3 Attend Tadau Kaamatan a.k.a. Harvest Festival in Sabah and watch the crowning of the Harvest Festival Queen, Unduk Ngadau (Read about them here)

#4 Attend Pesta Nukenen a.k.a. The Bario Food Festival in Sarawak

#5 Hike up the peak of Mulu's National Park in Sarawak

#6 Explore the caves such as Niah Caves. By the way, I have been to both Fairy Caves and Wind Caves in Sarawak! Read about them here.

#7 Check out the bookstores for local dialects language books (Dusun, Kadazan, Bajau, etc.). Someone better publish this ASAP if there are none! We already have Penang Hokkien guide, yo!

#8 Take the North Borneo Railway trip

#9 Try tarap and latok

#10 Dive in Sabah & Sarawak beautiful waters

#11  Explore Gaya Street Sunday Market

#12 Eat Borneo's super fresh seafood. I wrote about my makan experience at TopSpot Food Court.

#13 Admire the largest flower in the world, Rafflesia. Again.

#14 Attend the Rainforest World Music Festival, Kite Festival, Borneo Cultural & Arts Festival and festivals in Sarawak

#15 Attend the Regatta Lepa also known as  the Dragon Boar Festival or Water Festival in Sabah. Of course, other major festivals there too!

#16 Revisit my favorite restaurants in Sarawak serving aboriginal food _ The Dyak and Lepau in Kuching, Sarawak.

#17 Watch traditional Sabahan dances such as Sumazau, Sumirid and Magunatip

#18 Go to Tamu Besar Festival in Sabah

#19 Explore Sipadan National Park, Sabah

#20  Eat all the good food in Siniawan Night Market, Sarawak. Missed it last time I was in Kuching.

#21 Islands hopping around TAR National Park

#22 Embrace local culture in Mari Mari Cultural Village and Monsopiad Cultural Village in Sabah.

#23 Tandem Paragliding at Kokol Hill

#24 Waterfall Trekking

#25 Just chilling at Manukan Island, Sipadan Island or Mabul Island

#26 The Filipino Market, KK Night Market in Sabah

#27 Stargazing at Kundasang

#28 Go birds watching in search for the majestic Hornbills

#29 Explore Tagal Tinopikon Park, an authentic Sabah village

#30 Visit the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabiliation Center

#31 Head north to the Tip of Borneo, Simpang Mengayau, Sabah.

#32 Take the river cruise in seach of the Proboscis Monkey and Fireflies

#33 Marvel at how Desa Dairy Park looks so western-y

#34 Learn to cook local Sabahan delicacies

#35 Discover local wildlife in Tabin Wildlife Reserve

#36 Dip and hike around Poring Hot Spring Park

#37 Go glamping in Sabah or Sarawak

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For those first timers to Kuching, Sarawak you may wanna include:-

#38 Climb up tree barks ladders in Sarawak Cultural Village

#39 Stroll along the beaches in Sarawak such as Damai Beach or Pandan Beach

#40 Drink tuak and eat tuak ice cream, again.

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If you have been to Sabah & Sarawak or are locals, what would you recommend?

In conclusion guys, sempena Malaysia's 62nd National Day, I like to advocate for Malaysians to learn more about our countries' hidden beauty and encourage y'all to go on Cuti Cuti Malaysia  because there are just so many amazing things in our beautiful country!

On top of that, I think that if our PM, Tun Dr M can  do the dasar pandang ke timur (Malay for "Look East Policy", which means to use Japan as an example to run the country) then he can also include Sabah & Sarawak in this dasar because the people are more peace-loving and harmonious like the real 1Malaysia concept. The latter just need to stop hating people of West Malaysia, seriously. My Sabahan hommie also need to stop suka suka wrongly using the phrase "nia lah". I'm gonna digress _ to back up my dear fellow Western/Peninsular Malaysians, we don't hear that much of you guys from the East. And you don't speak some of Western/Peninsular dialects either.

I know I always say stuff like Japan this, Japan that, I love Taiwan, the Nusa Islands are beautiful yada yada yada" but deep down, I love Malaysia! There's no other place which has so many good food. Like, tell me which country you can go hang out at mamak at 2am! Personally, I'm so making conquering East Coast and Eastern Malaysia my goals. You'll probably read about that on my blog in the near future!

To end this ramblings, sharing with ya the video of "Original Sabahan"

Tadom Hills Resorts in Banting & other things I've been up to in June

Just when I thought I should rest after my mini Cameron Highlands trip, I received an announcement that my team (at work) will be going to Tadom Hill Resort in Banting as part of our team building session. The news came like just a few days after Cameron Highlands and a day before I am attending my friend's Indian wedding. No wonder I've been feeling tired these days!

Before heading to Tadom Hill for fun time we first had lunch at Dengkil Seafood Restaurant, a two-storey Chinese restaurant in Banting.

We ordered steamed fresh water fish, stir fried vegetables in a yam basket, shrimp omelette, stir fry Vietnamese lettuce (I think!) and fried cuttlefish rings in salted egg sauce.

Getting to Tadom Hill Resorts

After food, we headed to Tadom Hill Resorts, which is about 15 minutes or less, further from the restaurant. I supposed the only way available is via car or Grab/Uber. The road is very narrow and nearing the resort, bumpy for buses.

Admission Fee & What activities to do

For RM22 per person and a refundable deposit of RM50, you can use facilities such as the giant jenga, bamboo raft and the list goes on!

Available facilities can be used for a fee as below.

Safety vest is also included into the fee and a must when you're planning to dive or even climb on the platform. I was reprimanded for not wearing one when I climbed up the platform even though my intention was simply to snap some photos. I definitely wasn't planning to stand too close to the edge but the staff has a point. According to my colleagues who jumped into the lake, it is very deep so you have been warned!

Tip #1: Try to avoid going on Fridays as the staffs have Friday prayers to attend to which means the resort only opens after 2:30PM. If unavoidable, go later in the evening!

Tip #2: Go with sandals. A lot of time you will be needing to remove your shoes and all the sands will get into them.

I find the facilities there quite decent, the washrooms and toilets are clean so no worries about having to bath and change after leaping into the lake!

For rental of ping pong rackets, volley balls or futsal ball, deposits are required. Most importantly, while small, this place is so Instagram-worthy!

~♡~

Too happening these days, so I decided to include the other things I have been up to in the same blog posts because there are so many other posts to come!

TTDI Ramadhan Market shopping

I love visiting Ramadhan!! This year, I have dropped by the Pasar Ramadhan thrice _ twice in TTDI's and another in Bukit Bintang. Wished I could have gone to the market more often!

My favorite Tepung Pelita. Managed to purchase them the second time I visited the Ramadhan market. The first time they were sold out!

Some random photos I took of 1Utama's Hari Raya decor. It's so pretty!!

Celebrating Dragon Boat Festival with rice dumplings

Don't know why this year gotta be the year I eat a lot of dumpling because my parents dropped by and they bought me chang. A week later, my hommies brought back some homemade Hokkien-style chang she made with her grandmother. Feeling super thankful!